Hellooooo! Hope you all had a good week!
Thanks so much to zero25, Aya El maghrabi, and HermioneSakuraGardner07 for your reviews! I really appreciate the support!
I do not own YuGiOh.
Mokuba stared down his older brothers with all the determination he could muster. For a child of his age, it was a considerable amount of force.
Both Setos, however, had superhuman determination, as evinced by their endless devotion to pretending that magic didn't exist, no matter that they had been split in two, and so they met his gaze with nary a flinch.
All three Kaibas sat in the limo, being driven a back way home to avoid the hounding press.
"Mokuba," began Light Seto gently. "Do you have something you want to tell me?"
Dark Seto cut in then, face pulled in a glower. "Why did you spend time with that worthless girl while I was away?"
He ignored the disapproving glance of his counterpart, who muttered something about sensitivity and the statistical importance of self-esteem in children.
Mokuba chose his answer carefully, knowing it would decide whether he would be allowed to see Tea in the future or not. "I like her, big brother. She's nice and fun and smarter than we thought. Besides, I thought I could use the argument between her and the new weird tall Yugi to have her be more my friend than theirs. It'd be funny to see his face when he realizes she prefers my company to his." Which was a little more devious than he actually felt, but he could see that it appealed to the Dark Seto, who smirked broadly.
The Light Seto frowned. "That's not a good basis for any kind of association, Mokuba. You should have standards."
Now to change tactics. Mokuba widened his eyes, willing moisture into them. "But I never get to have any friends, big brother, because we're always worried about them being spies. At least with Tea, I know she's being genuine."
Bangs falling into his eyes, Light Seto sighed, looking over his younger brother's earnest expression. His resolve crumpled as the car rolled to a stop before their house(which was really more of a mansion, to be honest).
"Give us a minute to talk it over," he said, and Mokuba grinned happily as he hopped out of the car and dashed up the stairs into the giant doors.
"He knows he's won," groused Dark Seto.
"He ought to if I've done anything right raising him."
"You? I raised him more than you."
"No, you're just a delusion I'm having."
"No you are!"
They glared at each heatedly, then snorted in unison and looked away with equally dismissive turns of their heads.
"She's not a terrible choice for a," Light Seto grimaced. "A friend." He looked appropriately embarrassed that such a word had left his mouth, and he compensated for it by flipping open his laptop and beginning to type furiously.
"Out of all of that group, she's the least annoying," Dark Seto admitted. "Although that's not saying much, because I hate them all bitterly."
"Her grades are good," Light Seto noted, examining the girl's records on his computer screen(so what hacking was illegal, what was anybody going to do about it; he was Seto Kaiba).
"Hn."
"Does community service."
"Hn."
"No criminal charges."
"Hn."
"Parents are respectable as well."
"Hn."
"And aside from deplorable choice of company, the girl really isn't horribly objectionable."
"Hn."
"I don't sound like that, do I?" Light Seto peered judgementally at his twin. "All constipated and monosyllabic."
"No, you sound like a sentimental idiot," snarled Dark Seto.
"Adorable," sneered his twin. "So, thoughts on Mokuba's request?"
The grimmer of the two ran a hand through his hair, sucking in a frustrated breath. "I can't believe we're doing this," grumbled the Dark Seto. "You're going to be the one to tell him he gets to keep seeing that chit; I think I might puke if I try to."
"Adorable," repeated Light Seto, raising a perfectly derisive brow. "I wasn't aware I had such a weak stomach."
"Shut up," snarled Dark Seto, slamming out of the car and stalking up after their younger brother.
The other Seto lingered in the car for a bit, combing through the girl's history with a fine toothed comb. Something interesting about her stay in the hospital-unknown poison, hmm? That might be useful to look into. Still, it wasn't anything next to the mess that Duel Monsters was.
And the girl really wasn't a terrible choice for a companion for Mokuba. Not preferable, obviously, but she didn't have any obvious setbacks. He could tolerate her presence for Mokuba's sake. As long as she didn't start going on about friendship or some other such nonsense-then he might join his delusional twin in puking.
"You don't have to do this," Ryou told the determined girl beside him.
"Yes, I do," she insisted, hefting the bag of cleaning supplies she had bought. "Ryou, I trashed your sofa. The least I can do is try and get the stains off."
The boy sighed, but his mouth quirked in amusement at her stubbornness. "If you insist."
"That I do!" grinned the girl, relieved to have gotten out of the Gameshop. It was not a feeling she had ever expected to have about the store-for many years it had been a home away from home. But today it had felt unfamiliar and awkward, like stepping on gum or accidentally tripping down the stairs in a public place.
"So, was it harder than you thought to see them again?" Ryou asked, sensing her mood grow grim.
Tea cringed, unhappy that she was so transparent. "Yes and no," she admitted. "I missed them so much, and I was so happy to see them again. But I was also angry. They left me behind, talked about it behind my back, and that hurt!" She laughed, a breathless, sad sound. "And then they come back, and I can't even talk to them properly about it, because of what else is going on now. Speaking of which," she glanced at him with concern. "How are you doing, Ryou? I know this must be rough for you."
Ryou's mouth tightened, and then he shook his head slightly, unable to give voice to the maelstrom of emotions within him. Tea saddened as she gazed at his troubled face. For Ryou, there never did seem to be an end in sight. Perhaps, though, this time, they could free the boy for good. After all, even though Bakura and Marik had their own bodies now, so did Yami. And sure, it was two on one, but Yami was incredibly strong, and, whatever quarrel she had with him at the moment, Tea knew he would always do his best to help them all.
She wished she could tell him the truth-he made a much better hero for humanity than she did, after all.
They passed the rest of the walk in silence, a terrible difference from the cheer of the morning, as they both brooded over the problems facing them. Soon enough, they were standing in front of his door again.
"All right," she grinned, forcing herself to cheer up. "Just let me at that couch!"
Ryou's lips quirked up. "Far be it from me to stand in your way," he replied dryly, unlocking the door.
Tea raced past him into the apartment, uncapping her bottle of bleach with a war cry.
And then she skidded to a stop, because there was a half-naked, white-haired, purple-eyed Egyptian in the middle of the room, and she was pretty sure he hadn't been there this morning.
"Bakura!" Ryou gasped in fear behind her.
"It's him?" Tea squeaked, and wow, apparently being brought back to life did some sort of miracle for your abs(no bad Tea no).
"Host," snarled the man, and his voice was deep and terrifying. "Who's this?" he cast a cruel gaze upon Tea.
"Um," she said.
"Tea run!" Ryou called.
Bakura's eyes narrowed in malevolent recognition. "Oh, the Pharaoh's trollop," he sneered. "Well, I guess I was planning on killing you eventually, might as well get a head start. Then I can remind my little host why it's a bad idea to be so ungrateful."
Ryou whimpered behind her, and Tea's temper snapped(so sue her, she hadn't gotten much sleep, this jerk calls a trollop and picks on her friend and that is a big fat no-no), and she flung the contents of the bleach bottle into his eyes.
He roared out a curse in a language the girl didn't know, and the shadows in the room grew deeper, wriggling across the floor to wrap around him.
"You bitch!" he howled, and she scrambled back, but even blinded he was quicker, swooping down and grabbing her up by her throat. He squeezed, and it was just unfair that someone was trying to strangle her twice in as many days.
Dark spots danced in front of her eyes, and then the sound of something breaking reached her ears and the flesh noose around her neck loosened.
She slumped to the floor, gasping. Ryou tossed aside the chair he had broken over Bakura's head, seizing her hand and hauling her up and back out through the still open door.
The Thief King shrieked his fury, and tendrils of magic shot out after them. One snared Ryou's ankle, tripping him and trying to haul him back, but Tea yanked on the boy's arms determinedly.
Ryou's shoe popped off, and his foot slid free, sending them both toppling forward. They raced to the end of the block before daring to look back.
Tea gasped for breath, her feet in agony. "D'you think he's coming after?" she asked.
Ryou shook his head. "No," he said, eyes glazed. "That's not his style, he's more likely to-"
The apartment building exploded in a burst of darkness and flame.
"Oh crud," Tea said numbly, watching the fire leap forth from the shattered structure. "Oh, man, Ryou, I don't think you're getting your safety deposit back."
"Unbelievably, no one died in the, er, accident," Tea reported to Ryou. They were both sitting in her room in her house. "The news said that there were a few minor injuries, but most of the people in your apartment complex were out and about when Bakura, um, exploded it."
Ryou, perched uncomfortably on the side of Tea's bed, smiled in relief. "Thank goodness," he whispered. "I-He's hurt so many people already, I was so afraid…."
"You know it's not your fault, right?" Tea asked, plopping down beside him on the downy comforter.
"Isn't it though?" Ryou asked brokenly. "If I had only been stronger all these years, maybe none of the horrible things he's done would have occurred."
"That is not true," the girl insisted. "Ryou, you are not responsible for the choices other people make. Look, you might as well be guilty over not having time-traveling super powers in order to go back in time and fix every bad thing ever. Ryou, I don't know of a single person in the whole world who could have done better than you. You never gave up, no matter how he pushed you around or how hopeless it seemed. You're a good friend, Ryou, and you're an incredible person."
Gradually, the boy smiled. "Well now you've gone and made me blush," he joked weakly.
"Must come from being around Joey so much- his smooth talking ways must be rubbing off on me," Tea grinned back, and they both laughed, because the idea of Joey being anything close to a smooth talker was beyond preposterous.
"Ah, but you know, I think he might have a good chance with Mai," the girl chatted, rising and rustling through her closet. "I hope so anyways; they'd be good for each other. Also their hypothetical future kids would be positively darling."
Ryou smiled, relaxing a bit as it finally sunk in that he was safe, and no one had been killed. "Thinking a little far into the future, aren't you?"
"Speaking of the future, do you have any plans for where you'll be living now?" the girl inquired, sitting back beside him with a first aid kit.
"I'm not entirely sure," Ryou admitted, wincing slightly as the girl wiped a line of blood clear from the boy's face with a cloth. The feeling of relaxation fled as his injuries began to sting, and all at once the boy felt he couldn't breathe.
"I hit him," he stated dumbly, lost between terror and giddy jubilation at the memory of the daring action.
"You did," Tea grinned proudly. "It was awesome. He made this face like he couldn't believe it." And then he made a face like he was going to rip out both their throats, but she decided against mentioning that.
Ryou chuckled, but his hands had begun shaking dreadfully. "I can't believe it either," he said, and then his face grew pale and anguished. "Oh Tea," he groaned. "He is going to be so furious with me. He's going to be furious with you!" And he knew too well what Bakura's fury meant, knew that it meant pain inside and out and fear and sorrow and loss and unspeakable hurt.
"Yeah, he is," Tea acknowledged. But the part of her that would have been terrified before and gone running to Yami had died over a month ago in an alley, and with the news that she was going to be hunted by monsters anyway, she found she honestly couldn't be that scared. "Hey, want to get an apartment together?"
Ryou gaped at her, then frowned pensively as the idea rolled around in his brain. Tea obviously had something secret going on in her own life, and he had a far amount of trouble in his own. It wouldn't be a bad idea for Tea to move out-it would be dangerous for her parents if she stayed, what with her being on Bakura's bad side now. There was safety in numbers, and he wouldn't mind rooming with the girl; she was a good friend, after all.
"I would like that," he decided, and when her face lit up in a smile, he found himself quite looking forward to the prospect.
"Great!" Tea chirped, bouncing back to lay on the bed. "This is going to be awesome!"
"We're going to have an insane murderous magical thief after us."
"We're going to stay up late and watch movies and do puzzles and tell ghost stories and eat popcorn and all kinds of fun stuff!"
"I feel like you might not be listening."
"Oh and don't worry. I'm tidy. Do you think we should set up a cooking schedule?"
"You're not listening."
"No," Tea rolled over to stare up at him with an unblinking blue gaze. "You're not listening. Yes, there's going to be the scary bad stuff, but there's also going to be a lot of fun."
Ryou blinked, and then he smiled. "I hope you'll like some British recipes added to your diet."
Tea laughed. "That's the spirit! This is going to be great!" Mass murdering magicians and monsters aside, anyways.
"I think for now, though, we had better tell Yami and the rest about our encounter with Bakura," Ryou added regretfully.
Tea grunted agreement, unhappily considering the long walk back to the Gameshop. "Dibs on telling Yami how you smashed Bakura's skull with a chair."
"As long as I get to tell him you threw cleaning fluid in his eyes."
"Think we'll get gold stars for a job well done?" Tea asked hopefully as Ryou stood. She followed him up, and they both began to walk to the shop for the second time in what was shaping up to be a very long day.
"I rather think we'll get a lecture," Ryou predicted, and he laughed a bit as Tea groaned.
There was no saying what would happen next, but for the now they were okay. Banged and battered, but still holding on to hope.
AN: Who's right, Ryou or Tea? Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed! From here, things should pick up pace. More fights, more character interactions, some lovely crazy pants Marik….
Not going to lie though, I'm having a really hard time writing Yami as a likeable character. I don't know what that block is. I think I just always favored Joey and Tristan more out of the boys of the Yugi gang…Hmmm. Have a good weekend! Feel free to drop a suggestion or comment!